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Court Martial (episode)
Kirk is accused of criminal negligence causing the death of one of his subordinates; Lt. Commander Benjamin Finney. However, it turns out Finney had staged his own death in an attempt to frame Kirk for murder. Summary SUMMARY Background Information * The "white sound device" is a very unimaginative prop — a very 20th century microphone! * Also amusing is Kirk's reference to amplification of sound "on the order of one to the twelfth power." One to the twelfth power is...one. Not much amplification there! *The gorgeous painting of Starbase 11 is well-rendered. *Kirk refers to the silver-haired officer at the bar as "Mike." A character named Corrigan is sitting at a table and nods coldly to Kirk. The credits refer to Corrigan as being played by Tom Curtis. Since it is a speaking part, it seems likely that Tom Curtis played "Mike." This actor supplied the voice of Captain Daily in The Conscience of the King. * "Star Trek" often had very 1960s attitudes toward women, in spite of their presence as equals aboard the starship. Areel Shaw is a refreshing exception to this — she once loved Kirk, but she's not going to let this get in the way of prosecuting him and ending his career in Starfleet. * In The Menagerie, Kirk questions the authenticity of Spock's playback of the events from The Cage because no starships keep records of such detail. This is a direct contradiction of events in Court-Martial, in which we are even able play back records which can zoom in on Kirk's finger pushing buttons on his chair! * The original script had Finney surrendering when Jame was brought aboard and he saw her. This was changed to allow Engineering's large floor space to be used for a fight, instead. * Commodore Stone is the highest-ranking person of color to appear in the original series. He also commanded a starship at one time. * We get a look, for the only time in the series, at the names of the twelve Constitution class starships in the fleet, as they appear on the chart in Stone's office. At the time of this episode, the Intrepid, the all-Vulcan starship, is being repaired at Starbase 11. It will later be destroyed by the space amoeba in The Immunity Syndrome. * Although Sam Cogley's stirring and well-written speeches are lovely to hear, in reality they are the result of good editing. Elisha Cook, Jr. had great difficulty remembering his lines. * Court Martial was the last episode in which the sound of the ship's engines could be heard during fly-bys. However, in the DVD releases, this sound has been added in for all of the rest of the episodes. * The plants in Stone's office contain pieces of those seen in The Conscience of the King and would later be used for the Spores in This Side of Paradise. Memorable Quotes "Mr. Spock, you're the most cold-blooded man I've ever known." "Why, thank you, Doctor." — McCoy and Spock "Rights, sir, human rights — the Bible, the Code of Hammurabi and of Justinian, Magna Carta, the Constitution of the United States, Fundamental Declarations of the Martian colonies, the Statutes of Alpha III — Gentlemen, these documents all speak of rights. Rights of the accused to a trial by his peers, to be represented by counsel, the rights of cross-examination, but most importantly, the right to be confronted by the witnesses against him — a right to which my client has been denied." "Your Honor, that is ridiculous. We produced the witnesses in court. My learned opponent had the opportunity to see them, cross-examine them—" "All but one! The most devastating witness against my client is not a human being. It's a machine, an information system. The computer log of the Enterprise. I ask this court adjourn and reconvene aboard that vessel." "I protest, Your Honor—" "And I repeat, I speak of rights. A machine has none. A man must. My client has the right to face his accuser, and if you do not grant him that right, you have brought us down to the level of the machine. Indeed, you have elevated that machine above us. I ask that my motion be granted, and more than that, gentlemen, in the name of humanity, fading in the shadow of the machine, I demand it. I demand it!" — Samuel T. Cogley and Areel Shaw Links and References Main Cast * William Shatner as Kirk * Leonard Nimoy as Spock * DeForest Kelley as McCoy * Nichelle Nichols as Uhura Guest Stars * Percy Rodriguez as Stone * Elisha Cook, Jr. as Samuel T. Cogley * Joan Marshall as Areel Shaw * Richard Webb as Benjamin Finney * Hagan Beggs as Hansen * Winston DeLugo as Timothy * Tom Curtis as Corrigan * Alice Rawlings as Jame Finney * Nancy Wong as the Personnel Officer * Bart Conrad as Krasnovsky * William Meader as Lindstrom * Reginald Lal Singh as Chandra * Majel Barrett as Voice of Computer * Eddie Paskey as Leslie (uncredited) * William Blackburn as Hadley (uncredited) * Frank da Vinci as Brent (uncredited) * Chuck Clow as William Shatner's stunt double * Troy Melton as Richard Webb's stunt double References Bible; Code of Hammurabi; court martial;Fundamental Declarations of the Martian Colonies; Grankite Order of Tactics; ''Intrepid'', USS; ion pod; ion storm; Justinian Code; Karagite Order of Heroism; Magna Carta; midshipman; Mike; Moses; Palm Leaf of Axanar Peace Mission; Phase 1 Search; Prentares Ribbon of Commendation; records officer; Red Alert; ''Republic'', USS; Starbase 11; Starfleet Academy; Starfleet Command; Starfleet Citation for Conspicuous Gallantry; Starfleet Legion of Honor; Starfleet Medal of Honor; Starfleet Silver Palm; Starfleet Surgeons Decoration; Teller; three-dimensional chess; Tribunal of Alpha III; United States Constitution; Vulcanian expedition; Vulcanian Scientific Legion of Honor; white sound device; Yellow alert. Category:TOS episodes de:Kirk unter Anklage